Student activists on 'Road to Change' make Fort Lauderdale stop

The student-led force behind the March for Our Lives movement on Friday revisited the courtyard of the federal courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale to inspire voters to take a stand against gun violence and NRA-cozy politicians.

The student-led force behind the March for Our Lives movement on Friday revisited the courtyard of the federal courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale to inspire voters to take a stand against gun violence and NRA-cozy politicians.

The student-led force behind the March for Our Lives movement on Friday revisited the courtyard of the federal courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale to inspire voters to take a stand against gun violence and NRA-cozy politicians.

“What we would like to hammer home today is that we hold the power in this country,” Delaney Tarr, a 2018 Stoneman Douglas graduate, said before taking the stage. “We hold the power through voting. We hold the power through civil disobedience. We hold the power through speaking out.”

Road to Change Florida tour at the Federal District Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale

(Michael Laughlin)

Friday evening’s rally marked the final stop of the first leg of the statewide “Road to Change” tour that runs in tandem with a nationwide bus trek. The next round of Florida stops will focus on the central part of the state.

Three days after the Feb. 14 Parkland school shooting that killed 17 and wounded another 17, senior Emma Gonzalez stood on the same courthouse steps and poignantly and tearfully called B.S. on politicians who gush with “thoughts and prayers” after mass shootings yet continue to accept donations from the National Rifle Association. Gonzalez is now traveling with the national bus tour.

Tarr also made plea for life-saving change on Feb. 17. She returned Friday to further the message.

“We marched for our lives,” she said of the massive gun-violence protest that ignited thousands to gather in Washington, D.C. and around the nation. “Now it’s time that we vote for our lives.”

Mike Stocker / South-Florida Sun Sentinel

Delaney Tarr, 17, a 2018 graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is one of the driving forces behind the student-led March for Our Lives movement.

Delaney Tarr, 17, a 2018 graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is one of the driving forces behind the student-led March for Our Lives movement. (Mike Stocker / South-Florida Sun Sentinel)

Tarr was joined Friday by about half a dozen other speakers — current Stoneman Douglas students, recent grads and alumni. The event was attended by about 100 people at the most, largely student activists, their families and the media.

But 14-year-old Tess Segal, with her mother and a sign that read “1,021 days until I can register to vote,” made the trek from Weston to stand in solidarity.

“I want to make it clear that wanting your voice to be heard is a bipartisan thing, everyone wants their voice to be heard,” said the incoming freshman at Cypress Bay High School. “My countdown is about being a human, not being a liberal.”